randomness again

Not sure who said this originally, but my pastor shared it a few Sundays ago.

"I don't care how much you know,

 until I know how much you care."

good one to remember when we are busy pontificating to those around us, and yet failing to show them our love.

Is this not the coolest thing? Love I tell you, LOVE!!

you can find this adorable cuckoo clock pattern here, sooooo, who wants to make it for me????

I need some pillows in our new place to make it feel more lived in, what do you think about this?? It gives new meaning to pillow soft doesn't it?

 So tell me this, cause here in lies my dilemma. I want pretty pillows, but they must also be comfy, because, well, because we will be using them, and isn't that the main purpose of pillows, besides being pretty I mean, to make one more comfy? Are your couch pillows comfy, or decorative??

Is it too much to ask that they be both???

At our new place we have opted to not have a land line, and to just use our cell phones. My only problem with this new development, is that I can't seem to keep up with my phone around the house. I don't always have pockets, and the "in the shirt" solution isn't working for me, and carrying my purse around while I do laundry seems a bit extreme. Where do you all keep your cell phones??



And, how about these cute boxes? Too cute for words they are! And, this art work above? That you can find direction for here ala Kal, one uber cool artist.

http://lovelife.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/07/the-prettyeasy-pretty-easy-diy-.html

So very nice! So, I ask you, with all of these great paint chip projects, how long before the paint stores start charging for their paint chip color samples?

So, what you been lovin lately? Please share your randomness with me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom

Just a shout out to my Mom on her birthday. My mom has just recently become computer literate, and at 76, I think that is pretty crazy gutsy on her part. Having her own computer, means she can read my blog, so

Happy Birthday Mom!

(gift is in the mail)

vacation mode

We are back in paradise, and drinking in the landscape of an island that begs to be admired.

The creatures here are innately calm and not easily spooked. They seem to instinctively know that they are protected here, and safe from the harshness of other worlds. They croon and caw, with no thought to being hushed. Yesterday the girls and I witnessed a raccoon walking down a crosswalk, and across a street. He stayed between the yellow lines as if he knew the rules, and hurried home to his tree. There was a sense by us that he was on familiar territory, and was minding his own business inside the bustle of noontime plantation traffic. Last Friday we spied a bunny in the back courtyard through the sliding glass. She was foraging for food just feet from where we gawked, with no care as to our intentions, she had only her job to contend with.

Fish gather under dark bridges and ferns, stealing the bread Liza throws to the turtles. Anhingas dry their wings in the hot sea air, paying no mind to loud strangers on the cart path. Squirrels jump from moss covered live oak branches, to palm fronds, as they chase and play, only stopping for short breaks to sniff and reject the cat food offerings of a pony tailed little girl.

The dolphins bounce close to the tourist laden beaches, the ghost crabs venture out of their sandy cocoons at sunset to fight and volley. The pelican sail in formation until distracted by circled schools of dinner. The herons share space with the golfers, the falcons with million dollar mansions, and the egrets with discarded golf balls.

We live a leisure life on this our paradise, and innately feel at peace and safe . together.

The man child is home from far away countries where children are alone on scary streets to make their own way, and orphans are given a cot to sleep on but not a hand to help them cross the street. They do not feel the sand in their suits from a well spent afternoon at the sea. Or have a momma to rinse their hair in a warm bath, and tuck them into crisp sheets, blessed with words of love and tender kisses.

The castles we build here are more solid then the assurances of their very futures, and yet it is hope that we strive so to give them, as we venture in person or in prayer to their places in our world.

Because not even the cosmetic beauty of an island paradise can cloak the lack of hope that every people group feels, be they wealthy or poor, in money, or spirit. We as christians have a hope to share, and the task of sharing it, even to those who do not even know they need it. 

what are you looking at?

We are trained to look to the future, never look back, set our sights on what is to come, live in the moment, move on to the future, and forget the past. I guess this is good advise when the past is holding you back, or preventing you from creating a future. I wonder though, if we just looked back differently, if we might see things a bit more clearly.

I once knew a man who lived so much in the past, that he found it hard to live in the present. The past hurt and humiliation of a particular sport coach's words and actions haunted him so, that 20 years later he was still dwelling on the pain that individual had inflicted way back in high school. The past was his present, because he replayed those old scripts in his head continually, and they affected not only his career, and public life, but his relationships and private life as well. Looking back was not only painful for him, but it was devastating for both his present, and his future. But I wonder, if he had looked back at something different, perhaps that would not have been the case.

I have a friend that is facing a possible move. The thought of a move is not pleasant to her, and she wishes to stay where she is. This same friend has confided in me that she is not happy where she is, nor are her children and husband. They have not built satisfying relationships in their present town, and they find people basically unfriendly there. Her husband finds his current job stressful, and he longs for a more relaxed way of life. Her children are very social, and long for more friends to connect with on a greater level. So, why I questioned is she not up for a change? It is the unknown, she replied, the having to relearn and readjust, and re acclimate herself to new surroundings as she had to do just two years earlier when she moved to her present location.

In both of these people's lives looking back is not the problem, it is at what they are looking.

If we look back on what the Lord has done in our past, how he has brought us through, protected us, made the path straight, guided us, or just poured out His mercy and grace on us, then how can we not face both our present and our future with anticipation and hope.

Life is stinking hard for so many. Hardships abound, and lest we think we are the only ones who struggle, we need only look as far as the next individual to discover we are not alone.

That man I knew, had so much to live for in his present, and he could have looked back at the loving family he came from, the cancer that the Lord healed when he was just a child, the gift of children he was blessed with, the many people who looked up to him and counted on him, the place of leadership for which the Lord had equipped him, and all the blessings that had brought him to a role of prestige and honor. He didn't look back at what God had given, and from what he had been delivered. He couldn't see what the Lord did in his life in spite of the cruel words of that coach so long ago, because he wasn't looking.

My friend looking towards a move, isn't looking back at where the Lord met her in the last move, or how He always supplied her needs. She can't see how He revealed Himself over and over to herself and her family, because she only sees the difficulty and inconvenience that she experienced. She doesn't look at what the Lord taught her in the uncomfortableness of a new place or what were the many blessings she and her family were to those around them. She can't see the benefit of the pain she already experienced, and that loss of sight, is stealing he ability to see the possibilities in what the Lord might do in and through her at the new location, not to mention that the chances that she will like her new surroundings better are very good!

This can be the case in so many circumstances. As we face the uncertainty of this earth existence, job change, a bad diagnosis, pain,  loss of income, disappointment, or just the everyday inconveniences that life throws our way. Looking back can be a wonderful thing, when we can see what the Lord has done for and through us in years past.

Looking back can give us not only hope for the future, but the courage to face the present.

Don't panic!

Saw this recently in town, and snapped a pic. I think I might print it poster size, frame it, and hang it on the wall! Kinda like keep calm and carry on, only better, less words, no crown, and more to the point. Whatchathink, could it catch on???

Happy 4th of July!

bear much fruit??

After just two weeks away, our beautiful Georgia garden looked like this! At first glance, I thought all was lost, and I didn't even bother to look for fruit for a few days. Frankly, I am not much of an outdoorsy kind of gal, and all I could imagine was that snake that seems to be following us around! Because it was just the girls and I for a time, with the hubby back at our new "home", and snake slayer off in another country, I had to brave it alone.

 

To my amazement, the harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few! Look at all the fruit these crazy plants bore amongst all that jungle of weeds.

It got me thinking of all the analogies that we Christians could glean from this sad looking garden.

And, at the risk of boring you to death, here are just a few. You may apply them as needed.

Sometimes, you have to look hard for the fruit, it is often hiding amongst the weeds.

Those who bear the most fruit, don't always appear as you might expect. Sometimes they aren't all cleaned up and pretty, but their fruit is just as sweet.

Somethings might appear to be fruit, but in reality it is just weeds that look really pretty, pretending to be fruit.

Good vines and bad vines often grow side by side, but almost always when they are that close, the bad vines can take over.

When the fruit stays too long on the vine, and is not harvested, it often rots.

We can all plant seeds, and if we want fruit, we must, but that is the easy part. The real work of nourishing the plants takes time, effort, and sacrifice.

We can do all the right things, but only God can make the miracle of the fruit.

We can do all the wrong things, but God may still make the miracle of the fruit.

The fruit that is harvested can go to feed many.

Can you think of more?

I am the vine, you are the branches;

whoever abides in Me and I in him,

 he bears much fruit,

 for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 John 15:5